Process of combining oils and fats with heavier fluids.



No. 855,071. PATENTED MAX 2.8, 190?. T. E. SMITH. PROCESS OF COMBININGOILS AND FATS WITH HEAJIER FLUIDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.12,1906.

THEODORE E. SMITH. OF 'WEEHAWKEN, NEW JERSEY.

PROCESS OF COMBINING OILS AND FATS WITH HEAVIER FLUIDS.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 28,1907.

Application filed November 12, 1906. .Serial No. 343,078.

T wit/mt it may concern:

Be it known that I, THEODORE E. SMITH, a citlzen of the United States,residing at Weehawken, in the county of Hudson and State 5, of NewJersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processesof Combining Oils and Fats with Heavier Fluids, of which the followingis a specifica- 1011'. in My invention relates to improvements in theprocess of combining oils, fats and like fluids of a relatively li htspecific gravity with heavier fluids, suc as water, by mechanicallyproducing a minute division and r intermingling thereof, whereby amechan-- ical combination of such elements of different specificgravities will be produced which shall be substantially permanent, andto,provide a method for producing this result which may 29 be practicedcommercially in the production of large quantities of suchcompounds.

While my resent invention is adaptable for usein ro ucing substantiallypermanent emulsions etween elements of diverse specific '25 .glaYities,which are normally fluid at ordinarytemperatures, it is particularlyuseful 1n producing such mechanical combinations between elements, ,oneof which is solid or semi-solid at ordinary temperatures, while 3?.susceptible of being brought to a fluid or semi-fluid condition atworkable temperatures. facture of butter substitutes, such asoleomargarin, butterin and the like, it is de- 3-5' sirable that'thefats andbils used shall'be "combined with milk which, being composedmostly of water, is of a much greater specific ravity than the olein,margarin and other ats and oils used in the manufacture of suchcompounds, and which, thenefore, tends to J separate therefrom and toreluctantly mix therewith. Fiu'thermore, in the production of suchbutter substitutes, which shall be of attractive appearance andof'palatable flavor 4 5 and also of good keeping quality, it isabsolut-ely essential that the watery elements shall be combined withthe fats and oils in such minute. articles as to be ordinarilyindistinguishab e, such minute division and intermingling of theelements having different specific gravities being essentia to theproduction of a homogeneous compound, While with present processes thereis a tendency 'for the watery elements to collect in Thus, for example,in the manurelatively large particles, so as to be readily'a'suitablereceptacle, and 'in a fiuidor semi-or fluid condition. and inthen mechanically creating a rising current, whereby the heavierelements ,are carried upward and through the lighter elements, while atthe same time the masses of the different ingredients are i inelydivided and intermingled until there is quickly produced an intimatemolecular interminglin of the divers elements, which are thus so elydivided and so intimately intermingled that they are reluctant to sepa-7g rate in spite of their diverse specific gravit-ies. When the fats andoils are of such character as to become solid or semi-solid at ordinarytemperatures, this combination becomes permanent for all practical puroses as soon as 7 5 the fats cool to such norma condition, but evenwhere there is no such tendency of the elements, or of any of them,'tosolidify at ordinary temperatures, my process produces r such a closemechanical combination between the molecules of the various ingredientsthat such combination will remain substantially permanent for a longtime. So, also, my process is useful in the pro er salting of buttersubstitutes, which can e most effectively 8 c done by the use of brine,which. however, bein of much heavier specific gravity than unsa tedwater, is much more diflicult to combine with the fatty elements, eitheruni- .formly or permanently, but, w h my process,

any desired proportion of brin may be used, with the assurance thatthere will be an abso lutely uniform distribution thereof through theentire mass of the compound.

At present butter substitutes are salted by 9 5 kneading in salt afterthe compound has been cooled and solidified. This is done in large,slowly-revolving, kneading machines, i nvolving much time and labor.Then the product must be packed by hand. With my process 10 the fats andsalt water, when thoroughly emulsified and homogeneously combined, maybe umped through some coolin device, by whic it will be partiallysolidified, and thence pumped into the package in which it to is to besold, where it sets or solidifies completely in a homogeneous mass.

In practicing my improved process, I convenient-ly and liciently use, asform of apparatus, that allows in'the accoinpan cing drawing in whichFigure l is a vertical sectioi'ial view; and Fig. 2 is a view on theline 2, 2 of i i 1, looking in the direction indicated by he rows.

A is the tank, having n oun ed therein a shaft B carrying a propeller C."lhe shalt B entends tlirou gh a hollow shaft D, which c arries apropeller E at its lower end and is provided at its upper end with a govvheel F, While the shaft B is provided With a gearwheel G. Thesegeanwheels are rotated in opposite directions by a gear-wheel H whichmeshes with the gear-Wheels l and G, the gear-Wheel ll being secured-tothe shait'I, which is driven in any suitable manner. '1 he propellers (Iand E are arranged so that their blades are oppositely pitched and arearranged in relation to each other in the manner which I shallhereinafter describe.

The action of a propeller rotated at the bottom of a tank and in a fluidbody and in adirection to cause an upward circulation of the fluid issuch, as I have demons ated by experiments, as to cause the fluid to low1p Wardly and outwardly, the lateral flow de pending upon the pitch ofthe propeller-blades, but Whatever the pitch may be, so long as there isany pitch to cause an u pward tloiv of the fluid, such pitch Will causea lateral flow, with the result that there is always a-vcry limitedupward circulation of the fluid. lion sequently, unless the tank is veryshallow, the operation of the propeller will be merely su; h as to causethe fluid to rise slightly and then I to flow in a curve toward the sideof the tank and then downwardly. Consoq uently a large propeller berapidly rotated in a tank ithout causing any appreciable verticalcirculation or intermingling of the divers elements constituting thecontents of the tank. W hile the initial rotation of a single propellerin. a tank of fluid may result insoine :ln itvertical agitation, thelateral woven nt caused by the rotation of the propeller will shortly sodominate the vertical move nent that the entire contents of the tankWill take on rotary movement With no flfiipfcildlil i. or usefulvertical circulation. If, however, a second propeller be arranged abovethe first propeller with its blades having an opposite pitch, the twopropellers being rotated i opposite directions so as to cause an upwardmovement of the mutants of the tank, the second propeller will catc -ntrish the ing' from thelirst propeller as it begins to diverge toward theside of tl e tank and will tend to cause such diverging cu ,nts todiverge in the opposite direction Vfhen advantage is taken of this fact,the resultant of the'opposingaction of these two propellers Will be asubstantially vertical current of sufiicientjforce to carry the lluidfrom the propellers to the-surface,along which will through the ov andrapid oi' the lower part of the dy forced to -lihe, c surface 111glighter elen rntsthereby quickly I and ih'icly dividing andcomi'ningliug the elements of dii'l'erent gravities into a homogeneousand permanent mixture. The relations of the propellers to each otherwill vary according "to the die-meter of the ,oropelle \v ieelaml'aecording to the pitch of the propeller-blades. With 18 inchpropellers, used in a tank 12 feet in diameter and somewhat over feetdeep, I find that valu-' able results can be obtained by locating thethe heavy conic tank will propellers so that the blades clear each otherby about lif -inches.

here, for example, salted Water or milk and the oils and. fats used inbutter substitutes are placedin the same tank, the brine and the milkWill settle to the bottom of the tank. As soon as I start the apparatusin operation, the lower propeller Will start an initial current of thebrine and milk, at the bottom. of the tank, to rise upwardly and 1 oneof propellers 34 inches in diameter Will create such a strong risingcurrent in a tank over 10- fluid contents of the tank when the tank isfull. its the rising current reaches the surlace, it diverges to the,side of the tank and an induced return current is created, shown. Atthe. same time these forcibly driven currents of heavier fluids, risingthrough the lighter fluids, diverging and then descending, serve tothoroughly break up and interniingle the heavier and the lighter "iuids,whereby an intimate, molecuintrrrningrling of the various fluids israpidly at, Lined. As illustrating the certainty ity of the action ofthis apparatus, l note that two pounds of fluid coloring mat er may beincorpmated in sixty thousand )ounds of Fluid in less than live minutesso eliiciently as to produce a uniform color throughout theentire sixtythousand pounds contained in the tank. So in a relatively short time myprocess of interiningling oils and fats with heavier fluids byprojecting a mechanically created current of the heavier fluid upwardthrough the overlying lighter fluids and pcrinitting an induced returncur:

currents until the fluids of rent will so effectively and minutelycombine these various fluids as to produce an emulsion of greatstability, even where all the elements remain fluid, while, when theprinci pal elements are such as to be fluid only under heat and to besolid or semi-solid at ordinary temperatures, the emulsion Willremainpermanent until the compound shall be cooled and set, whereupon thecombination will be permanent for all purposes, and in this manner I cancombine, for example, as much as 25% of milk with the fatty elementsusedin a butter com ound and in such a manner that there will be novisible watery spots or particles in the butter compound,

and I can also of brine throug substitutes so as to produce an absoluteuni-' formity of seasoning throughout the entire mass.

project any desired quantity While I have, forpurposes of concrete.

illustration, shown the use of my process in the manufacture of buttercompounds and butter substitutes and in the seasoning thereof,. theprocess is not limited to such specific gravity, and my process isofhigh" commercial value in the manufacture of the uniform roduct whichresults therefrom, because 0 the much larger proportion of the heavierfluid which can be successfully incorporated in the compound, because ofthe rapidity with which t produced, and because of the inexpensive costof installation and the cheapness of operation.

I claim:

1. The process of mechanically combining fluids of differentspecifldgravities which comprises mechanically pro ecting acurrent ofheavier fluid upwardly through and in continuous contact with anoverlying body of lighterfluid.

2." The process of mechanically combining fluids of different densitieswhich comprises projecting an unconfined and undivided current of.aheavier fluid upwardly through an overlyin body of a lighter fluid.

3. Theprocess oi mechanically combining fluids of different densitieswhich comprises projecting an unconfined and undivided current of aheavier fluid upwardly through and in continuous contact with anoverlying fluid body of less density.

4. The process of mechanically combining fluids of different densitieswhich comprises projecting a current of the denser fluid verticallythrough and in free and continuous contact with a body of lighter fluidand also causing induced descendin return different densities buttercompound or butter e compound may be 'are brought into homogeneousintimate molecular combination with each other.

5. The process of mechanically combining water with fats and oils whichcomprises projecting a mechanically created current of water verticallythrough and in free and colntinuous contact with a body of fats and 01s.

.6. The process of combining water with fats and oils which comprisessufficiently heating the fats and oils to hold the same in asufliciently fluid condition and then projecting a mechanically createdcurrent of water through and in continuous contact with the ,body offats and oils until said elements are brought into such intimatemolecular'contact wlth each other as to form a homogeneous mass. i

7. The process of producing a homogeneous compound containing water andfats or oils, which are solid or semi-solid at 'ordinary atmospherictemperatures, which comprises bringing the fats or oils to asufficiently fluid condition, projecting a mecham ically created currentofv water thnsugh andin continuous contact with an overlying bodycontaining the fats or oils ,nd produc ing induced return currents,-while the fats or oils are maintained in a sufficiently fluid condition,until said elements are brought into thorough intimate molecularcombination with each other, and'then cooling the homogeneous mass tosolid or semi-solid condition. v

8. The process ofcombiningfiuids reluc tant to mix which comprisesprojecting an unconfined and undivided current of one fluid, having asubstantially uniform diameter, through and in continuous contact with-abody of the other fluid until a mechanical combination of said fluids isproduced.-

9. The process of combining fluids reluctant to mix which comprisesbringin the fluids together in a vessel and mechamcally generatingthrough the fluid body in the vessel an undivided and unconfined risingcurrent having a substantially straight path, said current being incontinuous contact with the surroundin body of fluid.

10. The process 0 combining fluids reluctant to mix which comprisesbringing the fluids together in a vessel and creating opposing currentsriear the bottom of the vessel whereby a resultin single verticalcurrent is produced whic is projected vertically through the entirefluid body and in continuous contact therewith.

11. The. process of combining fluids reluctant to mix which comprisesbringing the fluids together in avessel, creating an' initial rising anddiverging current near the bottom of the vessel and simultaneouslycreating a second rising and diverging current in such a inannerthat asingle, vertical current is created as the resultant of said two initialcurrentsand is projected vertically through and in continuous contactwith the body of fluids in said vessel.

12. The process oi" combining materials which are reluctant to mix, atleast one oi" which is solid or semi-solid at ordinarvatinospherictemperatures which comprises associating said materials together in afluid condition, projecting through the body cooling medium whereby theyare sufii-- ciently cooled. to make the combination thereof permanent,the primary body of said iiuids being continuously intermingled as aboveset forth, vwhile such combined fluids are being conveyed to suchcooling influence, whereby the mechanical combination of said elementsis continuously maintained until said elements are cooled into a solidor semi-solid mass.

13. The process oi combining fluids reluctant to mix, which comprisesprojecting through and in 'or'iti'nuous contact with a body of saidfluids a vertical current having a substantially uniform diameter whichis relatively small. in comparison wvith the diameter of the entireiiuid body through which it is projected.

14. The process of combining fluids reluctant to mix which comprisesprojecting a fluid current through and in continuous contact with thebodv oi said fluids and maintainin said fluid body inert and withoutagitation except for said projected current and the return and entrainedcurrents resulting therefrom.v

THEODORE E. SM] TH. Witnesses:

J. F. Dorrie, JOSEPH A. KREUZER.

